The Skooma Addiction
by Nereverar
Summary: Not even a Nord, Orc or Redguard, the most ferocious of the races, could withstand the drug known as Skooma. Once you've tasted it, your hooked. How could an Imperial Guard stop the addiction, especially if it can take him away from his other problems...
1. Chapter 1

This is a story of how I got hooked on Skooma and Moonsugar. And of course other, uh, bad things. I hope the story is good, because, uh... I don't really like to say this but, I'm not as smart as I was before the, uh, addiction.

P.S. Others might, but I still don't regret I got hooked on it. It's been one hell of a time.

The Skooma Addiction

It was past midnight when we finally stopped. Ebonheart could no longer be seen in the distance. We were free. I still couldn't believe what had just happened. I don't think any of us could.

The guard had thrown a punch, so I fought back. But I was the one to be blamed? They tried to lock me up, but I decided I was sick of it. Already had they locked me up before, for no reason whatsoever. And I wasn't gonna let that happen again. I hit the guard on the nose. I could feel it break as my fist reached the target. Already there was a group of citizens and guards all around me. Maddy was pushing her way through the crowd. I still couldn't get over her. Even when she was angry she was still extremely beautiful. Her long, dark brown hair shone in the moonlight, while light blue eyes sparkled brightly. The Nord pushed her way through, finally reaching me.

'Jolin!' she cried to me. 'What are you doing?' At the same time another guard rushed over to me, halberd raised. I was ready. I stepped to the side as he lunged at me with the enormous weapon and hit him right in the temple. I looked up to see Maddy, her eyes burning as if making a tough decision, then she finally turned around and hit another oncoming guard in the jaw

'Jolin! Maddy!' I heard a voice call out. General Vanhil came running through. Sure he was my best friend, but I knew him. He had done it before, and he would do it again. He would always choose the law over a friend. So before he was able to see what was going on, I had already started rushing towards him. My knee smashed into his stomach. My elbow into his face. It was time to go. I ran from the crowd, with Maddy close behind me, slightly sobbing. I could hear Vanhil starting to come after us. I put on a burst of speed, heading straight for the mountains.

I had broken the law... Left my best friend and made Maddy think she had to risk her life to come with me... We had just reached the sight when General Vanhil finally caught up to us. He was riding his bay horse and pulling a pinto and grey one behind him. Funny... I thought. I had imagined him to have wanted to drag us back. But Vanhil rode right past us, and halted in our path, making us slow down to a stop.

'Vanhil.' I said, drawing a daedric dagger from its hilt. 'I don't want to do this, but if you make me...'

'Why would I make you?' Vanhil replied. 'I've decided, I'm sick of going against my friends. I've probably made more enemies than friends to tell you the truth. And you, I really like you two. And I'm gonna stick with you. To no matter what end.'

I breathed a sigh of relief and put my dagger away. Vanhil trotted closer to us and handed Maddy the grey, and me the pinto.

'Thanks for this,' Maddy said as she climbed onto the horse.

And now we were up at the top of a mountain, finally out of sight of Ebonheart. Vanhil came up to me.

'Jolin,' he started, pointing somewhere behind me.. 'I found a cave over there. It's completely empty of life. Maybe we could camp there.'

'As you wish.' Was my only answer.

Vanhil led the way into the cave, with Maddy behind him and me coming up the rear. Inside we found five bedrolls, with moth - eaten blankets and hard looking pillows on the cold solid floor. There was a table of fine looking wood, with strong hard chairs of the same type. Five mugs, five goblets, five plates, and five knives and forks sat on top of the table.

There was a lake of fresh water around the corner from the bedrolls. They had planned to drink from there, as there was no other fresh water supply that they could get to without being seen.

There were three large crates that could all be unlocked with a single key that Maddy had found under a pillow.

The first crate was full of food supplies such as scuttle, ash yam, hound meat and alit hide. Perfect for them to live on. There were two small chests inside. One was filled with small seeds and the other was carrying four small corkbulb roots on a pile of a strange looking sand.

'So we don' have to go out and look for food so often, we could plant those here. Preferably over close to the waterhole, so that they grow faster.' I had said.

The second crate was full of alcohol such as Mazte, Shein, Sujamma, Cyrodiilic Brandy and Flin. The outlaws that used to live here definitely lived well. Vanhil looked excitedly into the crate. I could understand why. He had had a hard day. It would be fine for him to lay off a little bit.

Maddy opened the third crate, to find it full to the top of bottles of...

Skooma.

'Exactly what you'd expect smugglers to have.' Vanhil stated.

'I wonder if they're full?' Ana asked, picking one of the small flasks up. She shook it. No sound came out. 'Well, they're either really empty, or really full.' She tried her hardest to open it, but soon gave up. I took it as she handed it to me. After loosening it a bit by a small fire spell, I opened it to see the bottle full to the top of a dark liquid.

'I wonder if it is really Skooma in it?' I asked to no one in particular. 'But I'm not tasting it. I'm no fan of drugs.'

'Skooma usually has a sweet smell to it.' Vanhil answered my rhetorical question. 'You won't get addicted to it by just smelling it. Just see.'

I craned my neck over the bottle, and sniffed. There was a sudden insane dizziness as a sickly sweet smell washed through my nose and into every part of my body. It was suddenly covered by a smell of beautiful flowers and made me feel as if I was lying on top of a million of the softest pillows. That was certainly skooma. Or at least the first part was. I didn't know where the flowers or pillows came from. But for some reason, it made me want more. I had to force myself not to suddenly gulp the whole bottle down.

'Yep,' I said. 'It's skooma.'


	2. The beginning

Hey everyone! Thanks to those who review! If anyone would like me to add in their character, I'd be glad to. If you read this story, can you PLEASE review to hows it going. Because I really want to know if you guys want me to keep on writing it. Maybe say who is your fave character, or your worst, or who you don't trust. I don't know, anything! Right then, now that's out of the way, WE SHALL MOVE ON:P

I put the bottle back into the chest. Maddy quickly shut the lid and locked it up.

'We'll chuck these over the cliff tomorrow. I don't want _any _drugs around here.' She said hastily. 'But for now…' she picked up a bottle of shein and looked hopefully up at us.

'Go for it.' I answered her unspoken question. She let out a small squeal of excitement and leapt up off the ground to the table. Vanhil hesitated for a moment, before reaching down and picking up a bottle of sujamma. He looked thoughtfully at it for a moment, then turned to me.

'What are you going to have?' he asked.

'You're going to have that whole bottle to yourself!' I cried incredulously.

'For once, I want it. Don't stop me from having it. Now what do you want?' he said firmly.

'Na, I don't really feel like anything. If I really do later, I might share some shein with Maddy.

'What?' she called out. She turned to me with a puzzled expression. 'I have never been so stressed out in my life. We broke the law, and ran from the guards! I'm sorry, but I've decided to get hammered tonight.' She turned around again to the table and started pouring the shein into a goblet.

'Alright then, I'll go without.' It was strange, but I didn't really feel like anything except some food and of course the skooma.

'Really?' asked Vanhil, curiously.

'Really.'

We sat down at the table after Vanhil and I had cooked some of the hound meat and scuttle over a newly built fire.

The food was nearly more than anything I could have wished for. As well as being almost starved to death, I also really felt like a nice, meaty meal. Maddy had been planting the corkbulb roots and seeds by the lake while Vanhil and I were cooking dinner. She said she had found a note buried in the strange dust.

_Sprinkle over corkbulb roots to increase taste and speed of growing._

After a short conversation Maddy left to sprinkle the dust on top of where she had planted the corkbulb roots. In a couple of weeks they should have been ready to eat.

Maddy had now had quite a lot to drink, and she seemed quite tipsy. She had already started saying sort of stupid things and starting to laugh like hell to Vanhil's most crap jokes. He was alright at the moment, but he was starting to get more drunk. My stomach felt quite fine as to what it was eating, but my brain and taste buds kept on urging me to suddenly leap over to the chest and gulp down all the skooma.

As I started to finish my meal Vanhil and Maddy were really quite drunk. When things got too quiet, Maddy would start whispering a song that then got louder and louder until Vanhil finally picked up on it and started singing with her. After singing loudly for quite a while, they would then finish on an out-of-tune ending, throwing their arms out sideways. Twice while doing this I only just stopped Maddy from falling backwards off her chair. While they were enjoying their fantasies and sharing exciting moments of their life, (including how Maddy once _almost _hit on a guard, and Vanhil said that he had flown to Cyrodiil and back in a quarter of a second) I just sat in my chair, my elbows on the table with my hands clasped together and my mouth resting on them. I wasn't exactly bored, I just couldn't stop thinking about that skooma. Also, what was that second scent? It was obviously another drug. And it was the cause of me wanting more. If I had just smelt the skooma I wouldn't have wanted more. But that smell… What could make you attracted to something just by the smell? And then it hit me.

Shit. Telvanni Bug Musk.

Part of my brain was now telling me to go chuck out the skooma now, make sure I couldn't have any. But most of my brain was egging me on. Telling me to give in. Who could fight against Telvanni Bug Musk? Definitely not you.

And in the end, that was my decision.

I came beck to my senses as Maddy hopped off her chair and walked towards me, before grabbing onto my shoulder. I shook my head and looked up at her, just before she bent down and kissed me on the lips.

Okay, didn't see that one coming. But oh well. She was my girlfriend after all. But this kiss seemed to go on, and on, and on. We finally broke apart and she slumped her chin onto my shoulder.

'I love you…' she mumbled.

'Right,' I answered, pushing her off me and holding her up. 'Your completely wasted. Time for bed. C'mon, you're drunk.'

'No!' she cried back to me. 'You're drunk!'

But as soon as I lay her down on one of the bedrolls she curled up into a ball and allowed me to pull the blankets up over her before falling asleep straight away.

As I stood up I heard some snoring behind me. I turned around and saw that Vanhil had fallen asleep in his chair.

I lay on the bedroll, still in my clothes after I had pulled the slumbered Vanhil onto his. That chest stared back at me, wanting me to open it and take from it. It looked so welcoming, so happy. I lay there for a whole half an hour wondering what would happen if I really did take the skooma before I checked if Maddy and Vanhil were still asleep. Seeing that they were, I finally stood up and made my deadly decision.

I walked towards the chest full of skooma, and using the key on the ground, I opened it. I stared at the pink bottles of skooma hungrily before picking one up and holding it at the top, ready to throw the flask at the cave wall. Just as his arm started to move into position, I looked at the bottle one last time. That smell was so warm…

I opened the bottle and gulped it down, all in about five mouthfuls. It wasn't enough. I picked up two more and scoffed them down one after another. That, I decided, was enough. After closing the bottles again I placed them back in their old positions and closed the lid to the chest. Locking it, I realised what I had done. In one day, I had hit a couple of guards, the General/my best friend, and messed with an illegal drug. I walked over to the lake and looked at my reflection. I hadn't changed. It was same old me, adventurer Jolin. My Imperial reflection stared back at me. The same short black hair, same small beard around my mouth, same broad shoulders and strong build. Same dark green eyes. Same everything. A lot of people said I looked like Vanhil, but I only think we have the same type of build. He has long blondish hair and a longer type of face. His eyes are blue, and he has no beard. I don't know what they were on about.

Confident that I looked the same as before, I walked back to the bedroll, a little more calmly. As I lay back down, I looked once more at the skooma. It tasted so good…

Well that's it people! That was a kind of boring chapter but I had to get the addiction started. Hope you enjoyed it! PLEASE REVIEW!


	3. A cunning way to do things

Hey everybody, next chapter up! Wow that was fast aye? I made Chapter 2 tonight, and I'm starting chapter 3… They're actually quite easy to write, taking only about half an hour at a time… But once again, thanks to all the people who reviewed! It's great to hear what you think! And please, since this story is quite new, I really only have three characters and I need more! If you have ideas, give them to me! (If you want to of course)… SO PLEASE REVIEW when you read this story so that I can see how many people are reading it and if I should keep on going… Thankyou to my fans out there! I promise to have a bit more action from now on! Like Jolin going back to Ebonheart and having a fight! Enjoy!

I opened the cave door slightly with great caution and peeped out the crack. No one was anywhere in sight. I opened the door a bit further, still no one. I was then sure that there was no one that could see us, and opened the door completely before quickly ushering Vanhil and Maddy outside.

It was early morning and we had decided to chuck out the bottles of skooma at this time. Just to make the chances of anyone sighting us less. Vanhil and Maddy carried the box out of the cave. After I had locked the door securely I took Maddy's place in carrying the chest and Vanhil and I hauled it over to the edge of the cliff.

'Your ready?' I asked Vanhil.

'Just give me a moment.' Vanhil replied. 'This is all the fresh air that we're going to get for a while. I want to savour it.'

The wind brushed against his long hair. He looked extremely tired and irritable. Obviously, they were really smashed last night. But I was getting impatient. I pushed the chest over the cliff with my foot and it tumbled down the side. Nearing the bottom it burst open, revealing millions of bits of smashed pottery.

'Oops.' I said with a smirk. 'I accidentally pushed it off.'

Vanhil glared at me before we joined Maddy in heading back to the cave.

Now you may be wondering, why in hell I'm so fine about getting rid of the Skooma. But stop making comments; I'm trying to concentrate and get on with the story.

'Whew,' I said as we walked back in the cave. 'Compared to out there this place sure is stuffy.' I grinned at Vanhil again but he ignored me and walked off.

'Just give it a rest won't you Jolin?' Maddy croaked out from between her cracked lips.

Vanhil hurried over to a bedroll and lay back down, rapidly followed by Maddy, after a quick glass of water.

'I'm just gonna go for a swim.' I called over to them. They both gave a groan in reply.

Whether it was because, of how tired they were, or how bad their headaches were, or if it was because of how uncomfortable the bedrolls were, I couldn't tell.

I wandered over to the waterhole. It was unnaturally blue and cold. But that's what you'd expect one in a cave.

Stripped of all my clothes, I put one foot in the water. If you wanted a description of the lake in one word, I would have it. Freezing. But my eagerness of what I wanted in that lake made me keep on going. I put my other foot in, then trying to wipe the thought of how cold the water was, and elegantly dived in.

Brain freeze alert. Without coming up to the surface, I kept on swimming down, down, down, until I finally reached the bottom and where a strange part of the wall jutted out sideways. Running out of breath, I quickly grabbed hold of a small rock from the wall that resembled a doorknob, and pulled. An arch shaped door suddenly came into view as I pulled it open. I swam through the archway, and quickly rocketed up to the surface. I gasped for breathe and looked around at my surroundings. Just above the water, there was a small platform that held three jugs, two large bottles and a few different sized mugs, still leaving a large enough place for a fully grown man to sit on it.. I smiled greedily at them.

That last night, I had had five more bottles of Skooma, but realised that I could have no more afterwards. And the pain of the addiction would tear me apart. So trying to clear my mind I went for a swim. I was going insane. The skooma even attempted to make me want to drown myself. I had swam down to the bottom, thinking that by the time I would have reached the top, I would have ran out of breathe and be dead. But it was then that I noticed the rock jutting out of the wall and the strange doorknob. I don't really have to tell you the rest do I?

So there it was, all the remaining skooma, within the grasp of my hands. I quickly swam over to the platform and climbed up onto it. Sitting on the edge of it with my legs dangling down, I quickly picked up one of the mugs and sculled it down in about thirty seconds. I could feel my muscles tighten and become stronger, but my mind also became a lot fuzzier. God I loved skooma. I now knew why the Khajiits were always talking about it. Sweet, sweet Skooma. The giver of life, but the gate opener of Hell.

It was as I was walking back from the lake, drying myself that I saw Maddy sitting at the table, gulfing down all the leftovers from last night, not at all caring about being polite how she ate.

'We - have to - go back - to - Ebonheart.' She said between mouthfuls of Scuttle, not turning from her meal as if I had been there the whole time.

'What?' I cried out in shock.

'Not to stay!' she answered back, finally looking at me. 'It's just, we left all our belongings there. Our clothes, our weapons, our armour, well – everything.'

'You're right.' I replied, the thought finally dawning on me. 'Where's Vanhil?'

'He went in the other room to sleep. Said the drips from the ceiling into the lake was too irritating.'

'Still asleep huh?' I repeated in thought. 'Then I may aswell go by myself. It'll be easier.'

'What?' Maddy cried out. 'No Jolin! You don't have to go by yourself! I'll come! Just a moment.'

'Wait a minute Maddy.' I said. 'You probably wouldn't even be able to stand the sound of two swords clashing. I think you should stay. And remember, who is it that has been in and progressing in the Morag Tong for the past couple of years?'

'You're probably right.' Maddy yawned. 'Just promise me that you'll keep safe.'

'I promise.'

She gave me a quick kiss goodbye before I set out into the fresh air of the morning.

I tied the three horses onto a post just outside of Ebonheart. It didn't even matter if I was in the Morag Tong. This isn't a mission that an assassin would take. Unless you could somehow climb along the walls, only a brave warrior could do it. Or a really stupid person. I don't know which one I was at the moment, but it was too late to make any changes, I was already walking along a bridge to the Imperial Dragon Statue. Walking out into the middle of the crowded square, I threw my arms out wide and cried out,

'Guards! Wake up call!'

A horn suddenly blew and about ten different guards started rushing at me from all different directions. I grinned to myself. Why the hell did I suddenly let everyone know that I'm here? I'm not armed, I have no armour, what was I thinking?

But I had one advantage. The guards helmets, they had no cover over the face.

Using the same technique as I had the day before, I chose my target and at the last moment stepped to the side of an oncoming guard, who had planned to just plain arrest me. Just before he ran right past me I threw out my arm and hooked him round the neck so that he flipped over onto his back. Seeing this attack, all the other guards drew their weapons. Knowing that death was near, I grinned thickly to myself again.

First guard: Nose crushed.

Second: Jaw cracked.

Third: Own claymore stabbed into him.

Fourth and so on: Thinking twice about attacking me.

Taking this moment of thought as an advantage, I ran past the Dragon Statue to a bridge leading to the Six Plates, my target. I could hear and see arrows flying past me, skidding along the ground before finally coming to a halt.

Through the Six Plates I went, smashing past the people upstairs to the rented rooms.

After I found the room where all our bags and belongings were, I quickly shut the door and locked it.

I rapidly rushed on my armour and weapons (all bonemold armour, but my own two custom made silver katana).

With all the bags packed and strapped onto me, I rushed through Ebonheart to the horses, where I stuffed them on the grey and pinto, leaving me the bay to ride. But the guards had caught up to me, and were crowding around me into a circle. Realising the deadliness of the battle that was about to take place, I pulled out my two katana, one in each hand.

A guard lunged forward at me but I blocked him easily and jerked my katana through his sword until it was cloven in two. He stared at me in shock and I kicked out at him, not really wanting to kill anyone. But at the same moment I was stabbed in the back by a week steel sword. My armour easily held against it. As I turned around to face my attacker, my dragged my right foot along the ground, tripping up two guards as I went. Now really pissed off, I pulled my katana up to face the pathetic man, and drove it through the gap in his helm. His scream was short. At the same time as jerking out the katana, I managed to use a combine of moves. My elbow met a guards head, my second katana, a guards throat. I threw my right arm around wildly, hitting quite a few helms. These guards were useless. They couldn't even dream of hurting me. I kicked out again at a few guards but all of a sudden one grabbed my foot and twisted it, trying to break it. I like to think of everything as an opportunity, and this was definitely one. I moved my right leg (the one the guard was holding onto) up to his shoulder. Then with my left leg I round hooked it up onto his head, cracking it at once. Both he and I fell to the ground. But it was I who stood up again. Once again I prove my point, useless. I turned around and stabbed both katana into a guards stomach, just beneath his currais, and twisted them, butchering his intestines. As he fell I yanked them out and threw my arms out wide, decapitating the last two standing guards.

And people said _I _was crap at fighting?

Hopping onto the bay horse, I lead the other two back to Maddy and Vanhil in the cave.


	4. A company of Altmer

Hey everybody! A special thanx my two fave (and so far only) reviewers! I noticed I wrote in the fight scene,

"My dragged my foot around. Obviously it was meant to say I. Now, on with the story!

&&&&&&&&&&&&&

I quickly arrived back in the cave, pulling along the horses with me.

'Honey, I'm home!' I called out, grinning. Disturbingly, it was Vanhil that answered.

'What took you so long babe?' he said, playing along with the act.

'Oh loads, the girls at work kept on hanging me back.'

After a short hesitation, we both burst out laughing. It was an old joke, and I'd rather not describe it to you.

'I'm glad to see you alive again.' He said to me, walking up the path.

'I had some fun in Ebonheart.' I answered. As I moved my mouth I felt dry blood around it cracking and peeling. After I said this, for a split second Vanhil's face turned blank and his eyes turned to fear before he smirked at me again. I hardly took what had happened in. I was quite proud of what I had just managed to do.

Ana came out from around the corner looking quite wet and wearing only a towel.

'Oh thank goodness your back!' she cried, running up and hugging me. 'I was really worried. I slightly thought I had sent you to your death! Oh and you brought the supplies too! Well done!'

She grabbed onto the horses reigns and led them down the ramp to the bottom. Vanhil followed her, but just before he got to the bottom, he said,

'Oh, and Jolin? Wipe your face.'

I grinned at him and walked down the ramp to the lake. Looking at my reflection, I could see what Vanhil meant. The bottom half of my face was completely covered in blood. Scooping up water in my hands and walking away from the fresh water to wipe my face, I realised how evil we had become. I had just slaughtered many guards, most of them I knew and liked, and when Maddy and Vanhil found out about it they just laughed. How could we do that?

But the thought was swept out of my mind as I just realised I hadn't had any skooma for quite a while.

But just before I started to take off my clothes, I heard Maddy cry out,

'Hey! Look at this!'

I hurried past the horses and bedrolls to the doorway leading to the next room, taking my bow with me. Vanhil just behind me. But I needn't have panicked. Maddy was in the room, safe, pointing at a large crack in the wall.

'We better be careful.' She warned us. 'That crack only just appeared! It wasn't there a second ago!' I breathed a sigh of relief.

Suddenly, the sound of the creak of a door came from outside the small room. I immediately threw myself against the wall and edged towards the door way. I could hear voices.

'Follow me down here.' One of the voices said. It sounded like one of those snobbish Altmer. 'Come! It's perfectly safe, this cave has been deserted for quite some time. People wouldn't even bother to come up this high.'

Shit. I thought. The old outlaws are back.

I heard footsteps come down the ramp. I couldn't count how many people there were.

'Now, if you will follow me, I have a large chest of skooma down here…' The Altmer continued. 'Now, will you be buying the load?'

'No, only a few bottles.' I heard another voice say. It sounded like a Khajiit, but it could have also been an Argonian. I couldn't really tell the difference between the two different races voices.

I crept closer to the doorway, and peeped out. I stifled a choke of surprise. Two naked Khajiit were standing right by the doorway, staring at a very tall Altmer, wearing expensive looking clothes. They were obviously quite ignorant, as they hadn't noticed the piles of armour lined up along the wall and the horse's heads looking out at them from around the corner.

I carefully drew two arrows, nocking them both.

'Keep the Altmer alive.' I mouthed to Vanhil. He nodded back to me, before drawing a dagger from its sheath. As stealthily as a thief, I spun around and flew out of the doorway, shooting the two Khajiits in the back with the two arrows. They both fell to the ground, blood quickly pouring out of their bodies. The Altmer looked at me in shock, before Vanhil suddenly leapt out from behind me and pinned the High Elf to the ground, dagger pushing against his throat. The Altmer opened and closed his mouth several times, no words coming out.

&&&&&&&&&&&&&

'Who are you?' Vanhil interrogated. We had tied the Altmer up in a chair, and threatened him with severe punishments if he did not abide by our rules.

'I am His Majesty, Valdemar Aicintar.' He said proudly. 'King of the Kingdom of Lillandril of Summerset Isle. I am the Elder Brother of Lady Nenya, Second Husband of Queen Mother Essalma Karoodil of Firsthold in Summerset Isle, Great Uncle of the King of Cloudrest in Summerset Isle, 1st Cousin of the King of Alinor in Summerset Isle, 2nd Cousin of the King of Falinesti in Valenwood, 2nd Cousin of Duke Vedam Dren in Morrowind, 3rd Cousin of the King of Sentinel in Hammerfell, 4th Cousin, once removed of Queen Elysana of Wayrest in High Rock, 4th Cous-'

'Okay!' Vanhil cried out in shock and frustration. 'You're a somebody! Whatever! Why did you come here?'

'Why should I tell you?'

'Because I thought you might value your life!'

'Alright!' he screamed out. 'I am a great man of great honour, but I also want to be more rich than I am,'

'Great,' I said. 'A greedy bastard.'

Valdemar pretended to ignore me. 'I sell skooma! It's worth quite a lot. This was my old trading cave! And - where is my skooma?'

'We threw it out.'

'YOU DID WHAT?' he screamed. 'THAT'S ABOUT 4K WORTH OF GOLD OF SKOOMA!'

'Too right it is…' Vanhil said.

'You shouldn't be having that stuff anyway!' Ana yelled. 'It's horrible for you!'

'I don't drink it!' Valdemar argued. 'I only sell! I could never sink down to that level!'

Meanwhile, while all this was happening, I was looking fine, but on the inside I was being beaten down. Without them knowing it Valdemar and Maddy were calling me a pile of dirt, though that's probably what Valdemar thought of all of us anyway.

Damn High Elves.

&&&&&&&&&&

Vinziah Arcus stole across the mountain top. He held loosely in his hand a chitin bow, with a quiver of steel arrows slung across his back. There was a cave nearby here, of which he wished to investigate. Maybe he could bring back a couple of dead outlaw bodies, and receive some gold. Some gold of which he needed. He lived in Pelagiad, or rather, stayed. He could never afford a house, so he stayed at the traders place, renting a room. Vinziah had been quite eager to join the Imperial Legion when he had first came to Pelagiad, but he found the Legion was all about weapons and armour, all of which he did not favor. Magic was his main weapon, but from time to time he liked to hear the sound of his bow bend and hit his enemy.

He quite quickly found the door to the cave, mostly because he had seen two dead Khajiits lying outside it. He opened the door without a sound, and crept on in.

Two Imperials and one Nord were huddled around a noble looking High Elf tied to a chair.

Great. Thought Vinziah. They have a poor hostage. This will be good money.

He gently nocked an arrow, and aimed at the Imperial looming over the High Elf. But just as he released the arrow, the High Elf had supposedly said an overly frustrating comment, and the Imperial took a step back, throwing his arms into the air. The arrow just missed him. As quick as a flash the other Imperial looked up from the arrow to where Vinziah was standing.

Crap.

The Imperial ran over to a wall lined with armour and weapons, and drew two silver katana. As he came charging up to the ramp, with his two friends in close pursuit, Vinziah put away his bow and summoned his magical powers. Calling upon one of his favourite spells, he sent a fireball flying through the air down at the Imperial, who was taken by surprise and knocked back into the wall. The second Imperial roared, and swiftly came running up the ramp at Vinziah, steel claymore in hand. Vinziah gaped in shock, and leapt off the ramp to the ground below, shooting a lightning bolt at the man. But Vinziah had misaimed, and the Imperial managed to avoid it quite easily.

'Could you help me?' the bound High Elf said to him.

'Not just yet!' he cried out. The female Nord had ran back down the ramp and was coming at him, fast. He summoned a skeleton minion to help him, but just as it appeared, a large, heavy body jumped from the ramp and landed on him, knocking him out. Just before he lost all consciousness, he heard the Imperial say while the Nord was battling with the skeleton,

'Yeah, not just yet.'

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Vinziah woke up, his head aching. He tried to move his arms up to his forehead, but found that he was tied tightly to a chair, right next to the other High Elf.

'Hi…' the Altmer said.

'Hey. Just before we die,' Vinziah said back to the High Elf, remembering what had just happened. 'I would like to ask, what is your name?'

'I am His Majesty, Valdemar Aicintar.' He said proudly. 'King of the Kingdom of Lillandril of Summerset Isle. I am the Elder Bro-'

'Oi!' one of the Imperials said, coming round to them and pointing at Valdemar. 'Shut up.'

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Well I hope you enjoyed that chapter!


	5. Risks lead to nothing

Hey ppl, just remember that I would still love to have more reviews and readers! Thx once again 2 those who do review! Here's the next chapter in The Skooma Addiction.

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I woke up with a start, my breathing raspy. Beads of sweat were running down my forehead. I had a splitting headache. A blurred shadow was looming over me, holding down a wet rag on my head. I gasped and sat up straight away, knocking back the shadow and making a searing pain go through my ribs.

'Jolin.' The shadow said. 'Lie back down. Everything will be alright.'

I noticed the voice to be Maddy's, calming down a bit, I rubbed my eyes and fell back onto my bedroll.

'What happened?' I asked.

'You were hit by a fireball.' Maddy answered. 'It sent you flying into a wall. You were knocked out. Vanhil is interrogating the two Altmer now.'

I closed my eyes, finally realising how hungry I was. A finger touched the bottom of my mouth and pulled it open. A warm liquid poured down my throat. All of a sudden I felt healthy and rejuvenated.

'NO!' I heard all of a sudden. There was a yell and a roar of anger, before came a sound of a heavy object falling onto the dirt floor. Maddy bolted upright and raced out through a doorway. I sat up straight, rubbing my face with my hands, before getting up and rushed after Maddy.

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The scene was quite horrific. Vanhil lay slumped on the ground, blood oozing out from his head. Valdemar was standing in a heroic pose, his arms outstretched, obviously having blasted Vanhil away with a spell. A skeletal minion, a bonewalker, and a Clannfear stood by him, eyeing me and Maddy hungrily. I noticed I was still wearing my armour, but my two katana lay far away by the ramp to outside. The Clannfear lunged at Maddy, who had stood ready, but was still hit back onto the floor. The skeletal minion joined in, while the bonewalker started making it's slow path towards me. Valdemar turned to untie the other Altmer as all this was happening. I twisted around to Maddy quickly and grabbed the Clannfear around the neck, pulling it back off her. Maddy kicked out at the skeleton, cracking it's ribs to pieces. The Clannfear squiggled about in my grasp, it's scales cutting deeply into my hands. Finally I had to let go. It spun around and swiped at my face with it's sharp, pincer like claws. Blood spilled out of my cheek and I fell to the ground. The Clannfear seemed to think it had done it's part and after giving me an interested look, it turned away and chased after Maddy, who had just sent the skeletal minion flying in tiny fragments. Standing up, I noticed that Valdemar was almost done untying the other High Elf. Thinking quickly, I ran over to the ramp where my katana lay. Ignoring the blood pouring down my face from my open cut, I picked up the katana and raced at the two Altmer.

Valdemar looked up, and sent a fireball spinning at me. This time I was ready, I put my two katana crossed out in front of me, letting them take most of the spell. But the fire burned through them, making them boiling hot on my open scars in my hands. I had to drop them quite quickly. Summoning the tiny amount of magic I had, I shot out a spell of drain fatigue at Valdemar, and a blind spell at the other Altmer. Valdemar instantly fell to the ground, knocked out as the other one cried out in pain, his eyes blood shot. I started to slow down, my heart racing. Maddy was crouching over Vanhil, trying to get him to wake up.

'WHAT DO YOU WANT ME FOR?' the blinded Altmer bellowed.

I walked up too it, then bent down to face him, seeing tears streaming from it's eyes.

'What is your name?' I asked him.

'I shall not answer your question until you answer mine.' He said firmly. I sighed, starting to actually feel sorry for the elf.

'We used to be lawful people.' I started, choosing my words carefully. 'But ever since the empire got out of hand, and started letting people be arrested for no reason, we gave up. We left. We have been here for two days, and have managed to survive. You have found our hiding place, and we cannot let you leave. However, if you abide by our rules, we will let you live, and maybe even be accepted as one of us. Now what is your name?'

The High Elf hesitated for a moment, then said,

'My name is Vinziah Arcus. I come from the village of Pelagiad. I came here to find outlaws, gain a bit of money. I didn't expect this.'

But I could hardly hear what he was saying. My vision was starting to blur, and his voice was sluggish and low. It was when the cut on my cheek gave an almighty shock of pain, that I realised I was fainting from loss of blood.

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The Imperial said nothing in return. Vinziah was wondering if he was even listening, until he heard a soft thud on the ground next to him. The Imperial had most likely fainted.

'Oh shit Jolin!' Vinziah heard the female cry out. He heard her kneel down next to him. 'Vanhil!' the woman continued. 'Hurry up and put the braces on them then help me with Jolin!'

Put the braces on them? Vinziah wondered. What does she mean? There was a loud clang as Vinziah felt a steel bracer clasp onto his right arm. It was quite tight. He then heard the woman and the other Imperial called Vanhil pick up the body and take it far away.

Slowly, very slowly, Vinziah finally started to see blurred outlines of shapes in the cave. He could make out a chest sitting by a corner, and the table lying upside down from the fight. All of a sudden, everything came back into focus. The blind spell had wared off, and Vinziah could see properly again.

He looked down to his arm, seeing the bracer, and had drained all his magical energies.

Looking over to Valdemar's unconscious body, he saw that he too had a bracer clinging to his arm.

This was going to be one tough situation to get out of.

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Hey people I know that was a really short chapter but the next bit was unrelated to this part so I had to kind of break them apart. Read and review please!


	6. Escape

Hey people! The next chapter is up! Enjoy!

TrailWanderer: It'd be awesome to use your character! Though there may not be an appearance from him in this chapter.

The Knight Of Laughs: It too would be great to use your character!

But please, for the time being, could I please have no more characters? I might be able to add some more on later on, but for now, I have all I need. Keep up the reviewing please!

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I kept watch of Vinziah's progress closely. He was a true man, and a kind one, especially for the situation he was in.

The day after Valdemar's attack had taken place, we had sent the two Altmer to their work. Valdemar wasn't even thinking of using any magical energies, for he knew it would just knock him clean out. Vanhil's bracers were strong, and they drained _all _magical properties, not just a bit.

The High Elves had been put to soft labour, as there wasn't really much needed to do in a cave. They were to clean the bedrolls and blankets once a day in the water, and every so often farm the plants by the waterhole. Both Valdemar and Vinziah pointed out many times that the seeds couldn't possibly grow, as there was no sunlight in the cave, but what they said didn't change anything. For some reason, the plants and herbs kept on growing, faster than any I had ever seen. They were almost fully grown within five days.

Whenever we were getting quite close to a shortage of food, either Vanhil or I would accompany one of the High Elves out hunting in the early morning. The area around the cave, despite being on top of a large cliff, was quite populated with beasts. From the large creatures like kagouti, guars and nix hounds, to the small animals like kwama foragers and rats. Vinziah kept silent during his work, where as Valdemar strutted about the place like a god, complaining quite a bit. Quite quickly I accepted Vinziah as a friend, though trying not to show it, as we were supposed to seem more superior.

And gradually, as the weeks past on, the amount of skooma in the secret room dropped dramatically. With each mouthful, I was becoming more and more addicted to the sugar drink. Strangely, the plants also seemed to be quite sweet and addictive aswell.

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It was one night, when we were all (including the Altmer) sitting around the table, finishing a most flavoursome dinner of scuttle, ash yam, corkbulb roots and nix hound stew that Valdemar seemed to finally decide to think for once, yet not, to my liking.

'You know, with all my relations, you'd think the Empire would be searching for me, as I am a _very _important person.' He started. We all groaned. 'I just hope they don't-' he suddenly ceased talking, then forked a piece of corkbulb root and ate it slowly. 'You didn't,' he said slowly. 'You didn't take these vegetables from the crate, did you? The ones lying on top of the, um, dust?'

'Yes.' Maddy replied cautiously. 'Why?'

'Because, this is my trading cave.' Valdemar answered. 'And sometimes people don't want to trade. So you kind of have to get them, uh, addicted. And that dust, wasn't just ordinary dust. It was moonsugar beaten until it turned to powder.'

'You're kidding right?' Vanhil said in disbelief. 'This is a joke?'

'No, I'm sorry, it isn't. I had to get more money, that's why I also added in Telvanni Bug Musk to the skooma. Even if someone smelt it, they'd then be addicted.'

My heart stopped beating for a few seconds. I turned to Vanhil, who was so angry he looked like he was about to upturn the table. I looked to Maddy, who was staring at Valdemar, her eyes full of hatred and disgust. Vinziah was busy trying to throw up his vegetables.

Maddy suddenly stopped, a look of shock in her face, and turned to me. I threw up my arms so that they were clasped together just behind my head as I stood up from the table and walked over towards a wall.

'Jo-Jolin?' Maddy stuttered. 'Valdemar, did you say they get addicted just by _smelling _it?'

'Yes…'

'Oh Jolin!' Maddy cried out, standing up and moving towards me.

'What? What's the matter?' Vanhil asked.

'Remember the first night?' Maddy said. 'Jolin smelt the skooma to see what it was!' she turned back to me. 'Oh the addiction must have been killing you! Why didn't you tell us?'

'Because – because-' I couldn't say it, I couldn't manage to admit what I had been doing.

'Why?' Vanhil asked, moving over to me and clasping my shoulder. 'Why, friend?'

He was talking quite loudly, or at least a lot louder than usual. It was like he was trying to block out some other noise. I realised only too late that he was.

The cave door burst open and many Imperial soldiers came marching through. I heard a female scream, and then felt a blade press softly against my neck.

'This is the end of the road.' A voice said. I followed the blade down to it's owner, to see Vanhil holding the silver claymore steadily in his left hand, and weeping Maddy in his right. Blood was pouring down from a shallow gash across her forehead.

'Vanhil.' I uttered, not really understanding what was going on.

Vanhil ignored me. 'You are serious outlaws, and we cannot let you live in this world. I am sorry, but I cannot choose friends over the law.'

He swung back his claymore to ready it for the killing blow, but I made sure that blow never happened. Gritting my teeth in anger, I ducked as the claymore flew right to where my head was a moment before. I threw a punch out at Vanhil's gut and he bended over in pain, letting go of Maddy. She fell to the floor, still crying.

The Imperial soldiers started to race down the ramp towards us. Vinziah shrank away into the shadows, his face expressionless, while Valdemar charged forwards and stopped me in my way to my weapons and armour.

'Valdemar MOVE!' I cried out. He did not move an inch. Behind me I heard Vanhil utter a word in a strange language and the bracer on Valdemar dropped free. Valdemar looked at it in shock, then grinned. He had all his magical properties back.

I dived sideways as he threw a lightning spell at me. Its shock tingled on my side as I just avoided it. On the ground, I kicked out my leg and hit Valdemar's shin, making the High Elf trip over and fall next to me. I heard a soft noise of something flying swiftly through the air, and rolled over just in time to miss being decapitated by one of the soldier's swords.

Trying to stand up without falling back down again, I saw the scene. About eight guards were surrounding all of us, Valdemar was lying on the ground, and Vanhil was getting back up, his teeth bared in frustration. Maddy was starting to come back to her senses, and Vinziah couldn't be seen anywhere. Making quick decisions, I threw my elbow out to the side, feeling it hit a soldier's nose. Before that soldier had even landed on the ground, I was on the move again. I rushed past the group in the direction of the weapons.

Almost there, I thought. Only a couple of metres away…

BANG!

With an erupting fiery pain in my back, I flipped over forwards to the wall, hitting it and falling to the ground, the wind taken out of me. Valdemar was standing again, grinning. No doubt it was him who had sent the fireball at me. Everyone started charging at me again, as I started to stagger to my feet, using the wall for support. Just before Valdemar, Vanhil and the soldiers got too close, I bent down and picked up my two silver katana. It was good to have the feeling of them back in my hands.

I swung both out in front of me, the force so hard that the soldier that stood in front of me fell to the ground, his armour dented.

Surprised at my efforts, I swung out at another soldier, slitting his throat. I pushed past the rest and ran towards Maddy, who was stumbling around, trying to remain upright. Vanhil was the fastest to turn around and get back to me.

I clashed with him for a while, while the rest crowded around, afraid to get too close in case a stray blade hit them. They completely ignored Maddy, who was shoving past them, trying to get to us.

After a while, Vanhil's sweat worsened, and he seemed to get a bit doubtful of him winning, and instead, he chose the coward's way out. He swung around and stabbed Maddy in the chest. She gaped back at him, as blood started to pour from her belly.

The whole room suddenly went silent. Everyone stood still, as Maddy, slowly slipped away from the blade and landed on the ground. I could even see the tiniest bit of sympathy in Vanhil's face. But it soon returned to his cocky anger. He turned to me, claymore raised.

'NO!' I cried out. But before I could do anything there was a great flash of light and many soldiers through flew the air. They were dead before they hit the ground. Through the large gap in the circle, stood Vinziah, his arms up in front of him. His face was hard and stern, and his eyes were flaming with hatred.

Taking advantage of the soldier's shock of their friends' sudden death, Vinziah ran past them and grabbed me, before pulling me almost kicking and screaming out of the cave. He then ran back inside, and only came back out after a short moment with his hands full of my bonemold armour and bow.

We both ran, as fast as our legs could carry us from the cave, from Valdemar, from Vanhil, from Maddy.

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Hey hey, I really enjoyed writing that story, and hopefully you enjoyed reading it. Please review, but try not to give away what happened if possible. Thanks for reading!


	7. Confessions and worries

Yeah I know, I've been taking a while to review, I've just been… busy… Yes that'll work… They'll believe that

Um, anyway, I hope you enjoyed the last chapter and thanx 2 those who review.

O yeah, and I better do this.

**DISCLAIMER:** I do not own Morrowind or any of it's thingys. Jolin, Maddy (although she isn't in the story anymore), Vanhil belong to me. The plot belongs to me. I made up the cave so unless there actually is one in the cliffs near Ebonheart, I own that too. Vinziah, Valdemar, Veritas (OMG how many ppl in this fic have names starting with the letter V?) and Torla the fool belong to some of my fans.

And also I added a few more sentences to the bit where Maddy is killed. It was too rushed, I tried to lengthen it out. Just if you were wondering. Right then, on with the story.

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My breathing was raspy, my throat dry. My thighs felt as if two daggers were repeatedly dragging up and down them. I couldn't get the image of Maddy falling to the ground out of my head. There she was, her mouth agape, eyes wide open, blood gushing from her stomach. Vanhil's cold, careless eyes.

I'm sure I would have ripped his face off if I hadn't had been so shocked. But I couldn't move. My legs were stuck to the dirty ground, my eyes were fixed on Maddy's lifeless face.

'Jolin! Jolin!' A distant, rushed voice said. I shook my head viciously. Vinziah was staring at me in a caring way, but I could see a tinge of frustration in the corner of his eye. He was the one that kept on pushing me to go further, making us get as far away from the cave as possible. 'Hurry up!' he continued on. 'We're probably not even three leagues from the cave! We need to get moving! They'll most likely be hunting us right now!'

'They won't be hunting us…' I answered through gritted teeth. 'Vanhil's too lazy. Even if he does want to, he won't until morning. We're dirt to him. He's just like that Valdemar inside. He wants power, wants to be known and respected. And he doesn't care what happens to make him that way.'

'It doesn't matter! What if he knows you'll think this way and they come marching right at us? We won't stand a chance!'

'AND WHEN WAS IT YOUR DECISION WHAT WE DO?' I suddenly broke out. I had been holding in my anger for long enough. It was Vinziah's fault that Vanhil and Valdemar weren't lying dead in the cave right now. He had been the one who dragged me away. I could have stood and fought. Vanhil was tired, and Valdemar didn't really stand a chance at me. They would both be dead. Already I would have avenged Maddy's death. But no, Vinziah had to take me away. Stop me from getting to them. And now my anger was bursting out from me, like a trapped monster finally breaking free from its cage. 'IT'S ALL YOUR FAULT THAT SHE DIED! YOU SHRANK AWAY INTO THE CORNER WHILE WE BATTLED OUR HEARTS OUT! TWO AGAINST TWENTY! AND THEN, WHEN I COULD HAVE GIVEN MY FINAL STRIKING BLOW, YOU TAKE ME AWAY? HOW DO YOU THINK THAT IS RIGHT?'

'Hey stop trying to put the blame on me.' Vinziah stated. 'Anyway, it was Vanhil that was giving the final blow, not you! If it wasn't for me it would be _your _body lying on the cavern floor.'

'IF IT WEREN'T FOR YOU NONE OF THIS WOULD HAVE HAPPENED!'

'Hey! You're the one that locked me up and kept me there!'

I hated him, I hated Vinziah so much. Him standing there with his cool posture, using a relaxing tone while talking. Maddy was dead, and he didn't even care. He just wanted to stay in control. He was power thirsty just like all the rest of them.

I hated him.

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You could see it in his eyes. Jolin was really angry. You could even mistake him for wanting to kill Vinziah. Which, actually is probably what he wanted to do. The Altmer had no idea why Jolin was blaming him for all the things happening. He was probably just so upset he didn't realise it wasn't actually anyone's fault but Vanhil's.

It was also quite unfair how Jolin was blaming Vinziah, because the High Elf had actually quite cared for Maddy, and he was quite distraught for her loss, through he tried his hardest not to show it.

Vinziah wasn't quite prepared for what happened next. Jolin suddenly dropped his katana and launched himself at Vinziah, knocking the poor Altmer over.

Over and over again, Vinziah felt Jolin hammering him anywhere that the Imperial could reach, though the blows weren't very strong. Looking up to his attacker, Vinziah saw Jolin punching his stomach in a tired matter, as if he didn't care how hard he hit Vinziah, as long as he got him. Almost beaten to a stupor, Vinziah threw Jolin off him and reached for the katana. Swiftly he stood up with the katana in hand, and gracefully placed one of the blades at Jolin's throat. Jolin stopped for a moment, then screamed out in a wet voice,

'IF YOU WANT TO KILL ME THEN _KILL ME_! I DON'T DESERVE TO LIVE AFTER WHAT'S HAPPENED!'

He finally fell back in a heap and started weeping into his rough hands. It was horrible for Vinziah to watch a strong, fully grown man like Jolin being as vulnerable as this.

The High Elf dropped the blades and sat down next to Jolin in a caring manner.

'I-I…' Jolin started. 'It's my f-fault Maddy died.'

'Hey don't go blaming yourself now, because it isn't your fault. All the blame should go to Vanhil and Valdemar. They're the ones that caused the damage.'

'No. It was me who-who started it.' Jolin stated firmly. Or as firmly as a shaky man like he could. 'It was me who first hit the guard, me who made Maddy turn against the law. Me who made her run away from Ebonheart with me. Me-me who believed Vanhil's fucking sappy story too quickly. It was all me. I ca-caused this.'

'Here,' Vinziah said. 'We'll take a boat to Cyrodiil, leave this place. Start a new life.'

'No.' Jolin said flat out. 'I'm not leaving. I'm no coward. Vanhil must pay, and he's going to pay. I don't care how, as long as it's painful. And Valdemar, I'm going to torture him, like how he tortured me.'

'He tortured you?'

'Of course.' Jolin nodded. 'It was him who put the Telvanni Bug Musk in that skooma. The addiction has been eating away at me this whole week.'

'Well, just know.' Vinziah started, trying to think of things to say to cheer up the Imperial. 'I'm very proud of how you chucked out the skooma. I don't know anyone who could have done that once they were hooked on it.'

Jolin looked up at Vinziah fearfully.

'The thing is…' he said. 'We didn't chuck out any skooma. Only the flasks. I hid the actual skooma, and I've been drinking it all this week.'

'What?'

'It's true. I couldn't help it.'

Vinziah sighed. He didn't really know what to do.

'Well.' He tried. 'Where's closer, Suran or Pelagiad?'

'Pelagiad. It's right by us.'

'We'll go there for the night then.' Vinziah said. 'Get a nice soft bed. My backs really painful and I'm quite tired.'

Jolin looked as if he was about to argue, but then his sores probably took over his mind, and he agreed.

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The two moons shone down on us as we walked past the sign showing us which way was the main road of Pelagiad. We were barely strolling, our legs were aching so terribly. On our journey we swapped every so often holding my armour and two katana. Our clothes were sticking to us from the sweat. We were shaking in our shoes as the freezing cold air blew all around us. As soon as we entered the gates of Pelagiad we could make out small round balls of gold floating through the air. At first sight we thought they were dangerous, but soon realised that they were only guards carrying around lit torches. We made our way slowly to the local pub, hoping it was still open. Surprisingly, when I tried the door handle, it twisted easily and we stepped inside, shivering.

A large burst of warmth greeted us, with the smell of alcohol coming right behind it. A fire burned away gently as the supposed owner (an aged Dunmer woman) was trying to clear away two drunks, both of which were holding a bottle of sujamma in their hands.

The owner looked up to us as we walked in.

'No no!' She said to us. 'No more people! The pub is closed! It's three o'clock in the morning! We will have no more drunks in this place tonight!'

'No you misunderstand!' Vinziah cried out. 'We're looking for beds! And maybe some new clothes and a bath.'

'Oh…' The owner said. 'Well just give me a minute.' She finally grabbed the drunks by the back of their shirts, accompanied them past us and finally shoved them out the door, before closing it and locking it.

'You two look terrible.' She stated flatly. She walked over behind the counter and stared at us. 'We have three baths downstairs, and…' She checked a piece of parchment on the counter. 'Ah, perfect. One room with two beds. I can give you some clothes, even for free if you like. I don't like any of my customers to have to wear clothes like that.'

Vinziah looked down to me, and I stared up at him. The thought had most likely hit both of us. We had no money whatsoever.

'Uh,' Vinziah started, still staring at me. 'We, we have no money.' He finished, finally looking over to the owner with a defeated expression.

'Oh that's alright.' The owner said. 'Well at least, it is for now. How about I let you do everything tonight, and I'll let you tomorrow to go find some money to make up for it. Would it be alright if I could have it in, two days tops?'

Both Vinziah and I breathed a sigh of relief.

'Of course.' I answered gratefully. 'Thankyou very much.'

She smiled, then pulled out some new clothes (common brown pants, shirt, and shoes, though it all smelt fresh and clean) and gave them to us, before ushering us down the stairs to the baths. After a quick clean, we went back up to our room, where I fell asleep as soon as my head touched the pillow.


	8. Inhumane

**I AM SO, SO, SO, SO, SO, SO SORRY!!!** I know I haven't updated in ages. I've just been quite distracted. Sadly, there will be no more parts of the story written from Vinziah's point-of-view. Because there is no point in writing from both Jolin and Vinziah, since they are travelling together. Instead, I change it to Vanhil's POV.

I hope you enjoy this chapter…

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I woke up slowly, my body drenched in sweat. Opening my eyes and looking around, I saw that my whole bed was covered with sunlight from the window. I felt as if I were being cooked over a roaring fire.

Throwing off my sheets, I sat up and stretched my sore muscles. How my arms and legs longed to rest more. But my brain was buzzing about in my head, as bright as a coda flower. I slowly stood up, moaning.

WAM! My stomach gave a great lurch, and I immediately bent over and threw up.

I looked away quickly, then opened a bedside draw and picked out a piece of cloth. After I had wiped my mouth, I used the cloth to mop up the rest of the sick. I scrunched up the cloth in my hand and, opening the window, I threw it far out of the village. A betty netch nearby wandered over to check out the stinking cloth. I gritted my teeth, then left to wake up Vinziah.

'Now dears.' The owner said to us. 'What would you like for breakfast?'

I grinned at her.

'We must not. We already owe you; we mustn't have to pay you more before even finding the first lot of money.'

'Mustn't we?' Vinziah groaned. 'I don't really know how we're going to get the money. We've nothing to sell.'

'What about that armour I saw you with last night?'

'What?' I cried out, panicking. 'Not my armour!'

'Be logical, Jolin.' Vinziah started. 'We must pay this fine lady. And that might be the only-' he paused. 'Wait a minute. Why not _use _the armour?'

I stayed silent, waiting for Vinziah to explain himself.

'Last night, along the road, I remembered seeing a cave entrance. We could raid the place, and then sell the belongings.'

'That's a good idea.' The owner remarked. 'You'd be helping out the town aswell, by ridding the place of outlaws.'

I looked Vinziah in the eye and smiled.

'Sounds good.' I said.

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The door slammed shut behind the two criminals. None of the soldiers pursued them. General Vanhil stood in the cave for a while, staring at the door. He shook his head, and looked down to Maddy's cold, lifeless body.

'Just another outlaw.' He muttered to himself. The soldiers started to speak to each other, and gather things from the cave to take back to Ebonheart. Vanhil walked towards the horses, grabbing their reins and accompanying them out the cave.

That next morning Vanhil woke up, an aching pain in his stomach. His mouth was watering and his tastebuds screaming for something he didn't know of.

Clutching hold of his stomach, he rushed on his clothes and left his room, heading down the spiral stairs to the main hall.

'What's wrong sir?' a soldier stepped towards the pained General.

'Nothing, nothing.' Vanhil murmured. 'Send out word of Vinziah and Jolin's escape. I want them back here by tomorrow evening, alive. In fact, get me an assassin. One that's loyal to the Empire.'

'I thought you wanted them alive!'

'I do, I won't have the assassin kill them, only arrest them. You have my orders, now leave me.'

'Of course sir.' The guard stammered. He rushed off, leaving Vanhil to take care of his pain himself. A wonderful smell came from the kitchen nearby. Breakfast was cooking.

Vanhil let his nose steer him towards the door on the far side of the room. He drifted off through the kitchen door and into the brightly lit room on the other side.

'Sir, you needn't have to get impatient, breakfast is almost served.' One of the cooks said, stuffing shreds of marshmerrow into the meat.

'Yes, I quite know it's just this smells delicious!' Vanhil answered. 'I can't really believe we get this for breakfa-' he paused, and looked over towards the corkbulb roots. How he desired them, it was as if they were all he ever needed.

'Do you mind if I?' he started, pointing to the corkbulb roots.

'No, go ahead.'

He picked up the corkbulb roots, and, pocketing a few, he left the kitchen through the backdoor outside. The wooden table outside was all set nicely outside, as that was where Vanhil and the other important people would dine for breakfast.

Walking over to the edge of the fort, he stuffed the corkbulb roots into his mouth, expecting the sweet flavour he had tasted so many times before.

He didn't get what he was prepared for. A bitter, rough taste met his mouth, and he immediately spat out the corkbulb roots. These were tainted. Probably some new recipe the cooks had found to make it "taste nicer".

Vanhil took out the rest of the corkbulb roots from his pocket and threw them over the side of the fort, down into the sea. He left, taking a new door inside that led down to the prison. It had been a quite a while since Vanhil had ventured down to the prison, and he wanted to see if it had changed or not. Exactly as he had expected, the prison hadn't been altered a bit. Same old walls, same old cells, even (mostly) same old people.

And there was something else that was still in another cell, locked up and trapped. Piles and piles of wrapped up moonsugar, all stored away. _That_ was the delicious taste of the corkbulb roots. They had been smothered in moonsugar. Vanhil was addicted to moonsugar.

Vanhil stared at the moonsugar, no one could see him, he had the key.

But should he, after all, he was a great general, he couldn't get addicted to moonsugar! But also, it wasn't that he was about to get addicted, he already _was_. Stealing a cloth sack from around the corner, Vanhil snuck back to the cell and pressed the key in. He twisted it, the tumblers turned and the trap vanished. He creaked open the door. He rushed seven of the packs into the sack, then closed the door again, and locked it.

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Vinziah's hands were shaking. You could tell he was pretty scared, but he wouldn't turn around and head back. I was wearing my beloved bonemold armour, but Vinziah had nothing but his bow.

Our plan was simple. We would burst through the door, Vinziah would let loose a burst of fire, to get rid of the first amount of people when we met them. I would then charge in, and smite those who stand in my way. Vinziah would be getting rid of others while I was preoccupied. But even though I was the one running into battle, he was still scared. Not that I blamed him, I'm not saying I'm the mighty hero, who knows no fear. I felt really oozy in my stomach. Who knows how many foes there would be in the cave?

All of a sudden, we walked around the side of a cliff, and there it was. The weak wooden door stood randomly in the middle of the cliff.

I kicked out at it, and it swung open easily.

'Who goes there?' a voice called from around the corner. 'Tell us what you're here for and we won't-' the man never finished his sentence.

Vinziah leapt past me and turned to face the outlaws, firing a wall of fire at them. I rushed in after him. Two Dark Elves lay scrambled on the floor, both obviously dead. Drawing both of my katana, I stepped over the bodies and cautiously moved on. Another door separated this room from the next. Being as quiet as possible, I pushed open the door.

I jerked and tensed up as a great war cry came from the darkness in front of me. I heard heavy footsteps charging in my direction. I placed one foot forward, one back, readying myself for the fight. A blinding light came towards me, the outlaws' armour. A crackling sound surrounded the cave, leaving my ears ringing. The light came fast, faster than it should have. To late did I realise it wasn't the armour, but a bolt of lightning, heading straight at me. I dived to a side, the edge of the lightning hit my side and burned me. But I wasn't done yet. The outlaws came running out of the room, through the door at Vinziah. There were four of them. The front two were Dunmer, one a woman, the other a man. The woman was armed with only a dagger, the other an iron short sword. Behind them came a man covered in a full set of iron armour, carrying a heavy iron claymore. The last was a Khajiit, holding a handful of darts, and a quiver and bow slung over his back. I stuck out my leg, and tripped the Dunmer woman, while Vinziah sent a blast of frost at the man. He was blown off his feet and rebounded off the back wall, finally hitting the floor. I could see he was still breathing. Standing up quickly, I reached for one of my katana lying on the floor next to me. The man in the iron armour roared and lunged at me with the claymore. His voice sounded that of a Breton. I parried his attack, and holding my burned side with my left hand, tried with all my strength at the Breton's weakest point, his neck. The Breton snapped his head down quickly, and my katana hit the side of his helm. He was knocked down sideways.

Looking up, I saw the Khajiit repeatedly throwing darts at Vinziah. Vinziah dodged each one, jumping and-

SMACK!

The world turned upside down as the Dunmer woman flung herself on top of me, knocking me over. My vision blurred slightly as my head hit the ground. The Dunmer man stood up, shivering slightly. He raced over and helped the Breton up. My helm was roughly ripped off by the woman, and she hammered me in the head with her fists, before finally picking up her dagger, and thrusting it down hard at my neck. Using my last ounce of energy, I rolled myself sideways and she fell off me. I stood up quickly and jumped as a fireball flew right past me and hit the Breton, who had started to advance on me. I picked up my helm again, and placed it back on my head. Both of the Dunmer were racing at me, both having a bit of trouble keeping balance. I slid my foot under my dropped katana, and kicked my foot up. The katana flew upwards, to be met by my hand, catching the handle easily. The man threw his sword over his shoulder, and started swinging it at me. I sidestepped him and stabbed my katana at his unarmoured ribs. The woman stopped as he slid off my katana.

'YOU N'WAH!!!' she screamed, rushing further at me. You could see fire burning in her eyes; she was really upset with the man's death. I grinned to myself. She stabbed at me with her dagger, and I threw up my katana, chopping off her arm.

My grin broadened as she shrieked with pain. Like the day when I returned to Ebonheart, I longed to kill. I could feel it in me. At this moment, I could defeat anyone. I sliced my katana at the woman, giving her a shallow gash across her torso. Deep inside me I was disgusted with myself. I was torturing the lady, which wasn't something I was really into. I saved torturing for really special occasions, like for Vanhil or Valdemar.

But this woman, had done nothing to me, and for money, I had killed her supposed husband, then cut off her arm, and now gave her a great gash. I had to end it. But my bloodlust lived on. I couldn't help it. I sliced off her other arm, and then finally gave the fatal blow, by decapitating her.

Turning around, I saw that the battle of Vinziah and the Khajiit had hardly changed. Both were using two large rocks as barricades, while firing spells or weapons at each other. I saw one dart was sticking out of Vinziah's shin, and the Khajiit's top was burnt to a crisp, but otherwise, nothing had happened. The Breton gave a loud, painful sigh, still lying on the floor. I stepped towards him, and stabbed my katana through his neck. The Khajiit hissed, but could do nothing about me, for he was still preoccupied with Vinziah. I picked up my second katana that lay over by the end wall, and started to slowly walk towards the Khajiit. It glanced at me, then sent a final dart flying at Vinziah. Vinziah ducked behind the rock, and came out just in time to see me throwing both of my blades at the Khajiit, who was in mid air.

Both katana missed, and the Khajiit kept coming at me. He landed just in front of me, and threw up his right arm, about to sink one of its dart's into my neck. But its arm stopped mid-thrust, and the Khajiit flew backwards, hitting its head against the wall. There was a sickening crack, and the Khajiit fell down to the earth, its head hanging off its shoulders at an odd angle. I looked to Vinziah, who was holding one hand out, a furious look on his face. I realised he had shown off some more of his magic. He had used his telekinesis to kill the Khajiit.

That, I thought, was talent.

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There we go! That chapter was a bit longer than the rest, and that was to show you that I'm sorry. I actually wanted to have quite a bit more in that chapter, like introducing the assassin, but I realised it was getting too long. And don't worry, **Knight of Laughs** and **Trail Wanderer**, I'm still going to put in your characters. I have perfect places for them. I hope you enjoyed it, and don't forget to leave a review!


	9. The Assassin

The cave was completely searched. Not a soul moved inside it apart from Vinziah and me. The second room had nothing but one chest inside, which we emptied. Another door was hanging weakly on the other side, which we carefully opened. Eight bedrolls lay dirty on the ground. In the corners two hammocks suspended off the walls. One slaughtered Nix Hound lay in the middle of the room, chunks missing from its body.

Four corpses were lined up against the far wall, grinning at us, as if they knew something fatal that we didn't. We raided the room, and took all the belongings. Three cloth sacks were found useful to carry the possessions, and we ventured our way back outside, proud of our accomplishments.

'I can't believe it.' Vinziah broke out, limping slightly. He had bleed for quite a while because of the wound from the Khajiit's throwing star. There was a deep gash in his shin, but he pretended to ignore it. Vinziah was one tough guy. It just goes to show, appearance doesn't matter. Vinziah was a skinny, quite skeletal Altmer. He almost looked like a beggar. But he manages to blast away opponents with spells I couldn't even try to control, and withstand serious injuries.

'It's amazing how we managed to raid that cave,' he continued. 'Without even a casualty.'

'Hey,' I joked. 'You're surprised? You were in that cave with me as company! No one can even _try_ to defeat me.'

'Yeah, except for that lady who managed to knock you over and give you several blows to the head. Come on now, a _woman_! And she was armed only with a dagger.'

'Don't be sexist now!' I laughed. 'Honestly, we found potions, scrolls, weapons, armour, the lot! We'll be rich!'

'I certainly hope so.' Vinziah said solemnly. 'I'm just really glad we can pay back the owner of the Tradehouse. The sad thing is, she's so kind to us, yet we don't even know her name!'

I grinned. The day was turning out beautiful, we had succeeded in the outlaw problem, and we had money, lots of it. Nothing could stop me from being cheerful.

'Vinziah my friend,' I started. 'Let this day be remembered for us. The day, we conquered!'

'Jolin, my second to best friend, I agree.'

'Second to best?' I chuckled. 'Who's your first?'

'Gold!' he joked.

'Funny.' Said a cold voice from behind us. 'Because that's _my_ best friend aswell. Isn't that hilarious, _Vinziah_?' it mocked.

We both stopped dead in our tracks, and turned. Further along the dirt path, a dark figure stood, sharpening a glass axe with a stone. It gleamed in the sunlight. I eyed it carefully. It was as if the figure cleaned it every day.

My eyes drifted up to meet the man's face. The figure was a Dark Elf, quite young. He was completely bald, and he had two large ears poking out the side of his head. A large tattoo was printed across the Dark Elf's face, though from this far back, I could not tell what it was of. On his body he wore a full set of bonemold armour, exactly like me, except he was without the helm. A saber hung in its sheath at his side. I swore loudly, this man looked like trouble.

'So, _Jolin_.' The man continued. 'You've been betrayed by your friend, for gold.'

'I was only joking you n'wah!' Vinziah yelled back.

'Now lets not use bad language.' The Dunmer said casually. 'Anyway, to the point. Thankyou for using each other's names, because else I wouldn't have known it was you. I've been assigned by General Vanhil to capture you both and take you back to the Ebonheart prison, and, if you decide to not come quietly, I have been given permission to, kill you.'

I glared back at the Dark Elf.

'What be your name, young one?' I toyed with him. We needed him to think he was inferior to us. 'Tell us, we might recognise you, and you might not get hurt.'

'Don't try and play mind tricks with me, Imperial.' He spat. 'My name is Seth, and I know I can crush you like a bug right here.'

'Then why not try?' retorted Vinziah. 'If you're so great, why not show us some of your moves?'

'So you are not going to come quietly?' Seth asked.

'Never.'

'Right then,' Seth answered. 'By the law of the Empire, I have been assigned to kill you, goodbye.'

He jumped forwards, throwing his rock at Vinziah, who easily dodged it, and sent a success of fireballs the assassin. Seth laughed, and spread put his arms wide, letting the fireballs head straight at his stomach. I cocked an eyebrow, why would he do this. Was he that confident about himself, that he thought he could endure any magic? The fireballs hit into his stomach, and were instantly sucked into his currais.

Seth laughed.

'Vanhil told me you were quite skilled with destruction, Vinziah. So he granted me a spell, and enchanted my currais, so that now it absorbs any magic. Good luck.'

Vinziah growled, and pulled his bow from his back. I dropped the cloth sacks, and drew my two katana.

'Aww, no more fun?' Seth grinned. 'You want to just get it over with? Alright then.'

An arrow shot at Seth, who's smile broadened, and with inhumane speed, he jumped to the side, and appeared beside me, watching the arrow spin away in the distance. I jerked away from him, and swiped my katana weakly at him. He leapt backwards, and shot a blast of lightning at me. I keeled over backwards in pain.

'This is fun!' he proclaimed. 'Tell me, why do the legion sign up such terrible soldiers. You must be joking. Treat me fairly! _Try_ to kill me like you would do with anyone else!'

I gritted me teeth, and threw Vinziah one of my blades, his bow wasn't doing anything to help us. Vinziah caught the handle, and, leaping over me, thrust it forwards at Seth, who flipped over backwards to avoid it, screaming with delight.

His mood had changed completely. At first, he was laid back and cool, but now, he turned out to be quite mad. I rolled forwards off my back and stood up.

Vinziah threw out his arm again, trying to reach Seth, but the assassin merely placed his axe in its holder on his back, and unsheathed his saber. He parried Vinziah's blow with the saber, then twisted it sideways and forced it at me. I had been cautiously approaching, and the saber was too quick for me. It caught me off guard in the stomach.

'Wham!' Seth cried out when the blade hit me. An insane dizziness swept through me as a piercing cold feeling froze me to the spot, and I slowly fell over backwards. Vinziah lunged forwards once again, dropping my katana and landing his hand on Seth's face. I could see a familiar red glow form around his hand, Vinziah was about to blow Seth's head off! But suddenly, the red glow grew more and more, until Vinziah was finally blasted backwards, flying over me. His limp body rolled away and eventually stopped. I could now see what the tattoo on Seth's face was, as it was glowing red-hot.

The sign of the Imperial Dragon was printed across one side of his face. I had never seen a tattoo like it, especially not one that had magical properties.

I cried out in fear, got up, retrieved my two katana, and ran, only stopping to pick up Vinziah's cold body. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Seth prepare to run after me. I threw Vinziah's body over my shoulder, and ran faster until my legs felt as if they were being split in half. There was an odd clunking sound beside me, and I looked to my right, to see Seth jogging slowly beside me, grinning evilly. He must have been wearing something that increased his agility, because his speed, was unmatched.

I thought quickly, knowing that death was near. Up ahead I sighted a burial cavern, I could maybe hide there, but first, to get rid of Seth.

My plan was very simple. I leapt to my right, taking Seth by surprise and bowling him over, then bolted at the door to the burial cavern. I burst my way in, and ran down the long corridor, ignoring a skeleton that I passed by. The more creatures I left behind me and didn't kill, the more Seth would have to get rid of. I smashed open a door, kicking a bonewalker in the face and ran through the room, down the stairs and through another door, finally dropping Vinziah, and drawing my two katana. A bone lord floated at the end of the room. I was expecting it to come charging at me, but ti didn't.

'You were carrying a soul that si about to leave its body.' A disembodied voice came from the bone lord. 'I shall not harm you, for this man is about to become one of us.' It drifted over, preparing to suck the life out of Vinziah.

'Back off!' I cried out, pointing my blades threateningly at the ghost. 'if you come anywhere near here, you'll be nothing but a pile of dust.'

'Very well.' It whispered, and floated back to the other end of the wall. 'There is a man entering this cavern, he supports the Imperial Dragon. We do not. He is not to leave here alive. I'm sure you won't mind will you? Seeing as he came in here, looking to kill you. We can hide you, if afterwards, you give that soul to us.' It pointed at Vinziah.

'Yes,' I lied. 'You can.'

'Alright.' the bone lord answered, I heard a few doors closing in the distance, and some creatures scurrying off to attack Seth. The torches on the side of the walls blew out, and we were left in complete darkness. I cast a night-eye spell on myself. I could see the bone lord approaching Vinziah again. Even though it helped me, I would not let the ghost take Vinziah. I threw down my arm, smashing it down into the bone lord's skull. The bone instantly turned to dust, that fell down onto Vinziah. There was a loud squeal, and the sound of a body falling to the ground. I heard loud footsteps, echoing off the walls of the corridor. Seth had destroyed the monsters, and he probably could sense where I had gone. He would find me soon. But I had one advantage, the night-eye spell, I could see and he couldn't.

I stepped behind the door, preparing to leap on the oncoming foe.

Suddenly, everything went black.

My night-eye had worn off! I had no time to panic, as the door to the room I was in creaked open. I grabbed Vinziah's arm and pulled him slowly towards me. I could feel his pulse in his wrist. He was still alive, but only just.

'Come out, come out, wherever you are!' giggled the man stepping through the doorway. 'I know you're in here! Why not just come out, I need a hug! The other creatures didn't want to play; they preferred to sleep forever more. But what about you? You're fun! Why not come out and we can play together!'

I gritted my teeth and lunged forwards, my blade swinging at where I thought Seth was.

Twang! Blade met blade, and Seth punched out, smacking his fist into my face. I sheathed my blades again, and picked up Vinziah. Then I ran. I pushed Seth out of the way and headed back through the other room and up the stairs.

'Aww, you don't want to play either?' I heard Seth's voice behind me. 'That's too bad! I guess its time for you to go to bed then! Lights out!'

I yelled and burst through the next door, running through another door. I felt my way through the corridors as fast as I could, leaving Seth far behind.

Or so I thought.

A blue light spun at me from the corner of my eye. I screamed, and smacked into a wall headfirst. I couldn't move. Fear was drilling into me from all sides. Then the blue light hit my side, and sent me spiralling at the door outside.

The sudden light of the sun dazzled me as I landed on the ground. Vinziah lay on the ground beside me, still not moving. Ignoring the pain in my side, I jumped up, seized Vinziah and pelted down the dirt road, through the Pelagiad gates and straight to the Tradehouse, where I was met by a guard, who threw out his right arm and hooked me in the neck. I flipped over backwards and landed on my back. Knowing that Vinziah and I were safe. Probably arrested, but safe.

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Wow, I hope you enjoyed that chapter, I'm kind of proud of it.

The next one might take a while to come, because it'll be sort of boring and I'm not that enthusiastic to write it. But anyway, thankyou to all those who review, I really enjoy reading your comments. And there you are **Knight of Laughs**, that was your character. And that won't be the last of you seeing him. And **TrailWanderer**, your character is coming up next chapter!


	10. Prison

General Vanhil paced back and forth in his room. He wanted to jump, to leap, to use his wondrous amount of energy that was stored away inside him. He wanted to break free, from his body, from the world. He wanted to dance around the room, forget about everything, but he couldn't. Not in this company.

'Over half the amount of Moonsugar is gone, Vanhil! Over the half the damn amount!'

'I know, I know!' Vanhil hastily replied. 'I'll look into it, okay? Are you happy?'

'No I'm not happy!' Varius Vantinnius yelled back. 'You just want to hurry off to breakfast, don't you?'

Vanhil stared back at Varius. The Knight of the Imperial Dragon was sending spit all over the place, saturating Vanhil's paperwork. The General didn't really care at all about the moonsugar. As, after all, it was he who had taken it.

'Well, we will both be expected,' Vanhil started. 'We both will be expected there, they probably won't start without us. I heard breakfast is the most important meal of the day…' he trailed off, seeing the look on Varius's face.

'There are exceptions Vanhil!' Varius shouted back. He was turning a brilliant shade of purple from loss of breath. 'Why don't you care about this? You're not acting yourself today.'

'It's because I'm sick of everything!' Vanhil suddenly broke out. 'I just had to kill one of my best friends, and now I'm hunting down the other! I need a break! Let me just dine with the others for breakfast, and then I promise I'll get right on this case of yours.'

Varius's seemed to calm down, his face turning back to its normal colour.

'Alright.' He answered, looking down and staring at his boots. 'I didn't know you are so close to these outlaws.'

'I _was_ close to them…'

'Yes, right.' Varius said, looking back up. 'But with this extra feast, I expect your report to be great, and for you to have solved this case by dawn tomorrow.'

'Al-alright.' Vanhil said, a plan already forming in his head.

Varius left the room, closing the door behind him. Vanhil slumped down in a heap on his chair behind his desk. Wiping the spittle of his work, he stared at a blanket over in the corner, hidden from view by most angles because of a large bookcase, covering it in shadow. Vanhil knew, that underneath the blanket, was the rest of the moonsugar.

He stared at the rest of his room. It was a basic design. His desk was at the front of the room, opposite that was a door, which hid his bed and closet. There were some shelves on one of the walls, which carried some alchemy ingredients and tools. A large chest lay beside the desk. His Imperial Templar amour was stored away inside it. The silver claymore, which he trusted so much, was resting against the wall, beside the bookcase. Vanhil's steel tanto was strapped to his belt.

Strumming his fingers on the desk, Vanhil thought through his plan. He was to leave to the Argonian mission, and randomly capture one of them, and blame them for the theft of the moonsugar. Many of them probably had committed crimes before anyway, he would be doing it for a good cause.

Wait, how did he think that? He was the one who stole the moonsugar. How would it be for a good cause? It was pretty stupid. But then again, so was his plan. It was the simplest thing he had ever heard of. Vanhil _knew_ he was smarter than this, so why could he not think of anything better?

It was the moonsugar. Vanhil knew it. It was the moonsugar taking over him. He felt as if he had been betrayed. That friend, that had been so close, that moonsugar, that he loved, had dirtied him. Had cursed him.

But he couldn't resist it. Its pleasure was too great.

He woke from his daze, and shaking his head, he realised that he was quite late for the breakfast. Jumping up, he pulled on a warm robe, and headed out the door at a stride. A figure approached the Imperial when he was locking his door.

'There you are!' cried out Valdemar. 'I just came up looking for you. Why so late for breakfast?'

'I can do what I like sometimes, my lord.' Vanhil sneered through gritted teeth, choosing not to tell Valdemar the truth.

'I'm glad you're finally getting to know me as a lord, instead of the scum you once thought I was.' Valdemar said proudly, slightly strutting as he accompanied Vanhil down the spiral stairs.

Vanhil grunted, and continued his path outside.

Four guards stood around the edges of the stone deck, their faces solemn. Sixteen people were all sitting at the large table Vanhil had seen that morning. Duke Vedam Dren sat at the end by himself as usual, opposite him at the other end of the table was an empty seat where Varius Vantinius should have been sitting. Vanhil headed towards his chair, which was next to a Dark Elf that he had never quite gotten to know. To Vanhil's annoyance, Valdemar followed him, to an unoccupied chair beside him.

Imperial and Altmer sat, both staring at their silverware and empty plates.

'I thought you were all waiting for me.' Vanhil muttered to Valdemar out of the corner of his mouth. 'How come there's no food?'

Valdemar opened his mouth to answer, when Duke Vedam Dren interrupted him.

'You are finally here!' he called out, silencing everyone. He clapped his hands together, smiling. 'Shall we get started then?'

A guard leant towards a door and knocked on it. Straight away around twenty chefs came bustling out one after the other, all grinning cheerfully, and holding onto large silver platters filled with various amounts of food.

'What's the occasion?' Vanhil asked Valdemar, pointing at the gourmet meals.

'Oh like you don't know.' Valdemar answered, sipping a goblet of shein. 'It's Duke Dren's birthday!'

'I'm sorry,' Vanhil said irritably. 'But you sort of lose track of time when you're living in a cave full of criminal scum.'

'Hey, I was there with you.' Valdemar reminded him. 'And I still knew.'

'But unlike you, I have better things on my mind than what to get Dren for a birthday present.'

'Speaking of which, I hope he likes my present.' Valdemar said quietly.

Vanhil grunted in boredom as a pile of steaming hot slabs of nix hound meat was placed in front of him. Valdemar whistled in enthusiasm and forked a couple of pieces of the meat and placed them on his plate.

'I got him an amulet of luck.' The Altmer said as if Vanhil had asked him what present Dren was receiving from him. 'Had to pay a fine amount of gold for it, it was from a friend of mine in Mournhold, Gaenor.'

'Congratulations.' Vanhil said, rolling his eyes and helping himself to some scuttle. There was a tinkling noise and Vanhil looked up, to see a Breton gently hitting his spoon against his goblet. The chatter died down.

'A toast!' the Breton said cheerfully, holding up his goblet. 'To our great Duke, on his one hundred and fifty-sixth birthday! Still young and healthy!'

The crowd around Vanhil chuckled. Vanhil couldn't see what was funny about what the Breton said. Dren was still very healthy and fit. He could even probably beat Vanhil in combat…

Vanhil stopped. Dren probably _could_ beat Vanhil in a fight. Vanhil had fought pathetically against Jolin in their last fight. He made a mental note in his head to practise more in combat.

'Let us hope that he may live for many more years!' The Breton droned on. 'For he truly is the greatest! He is a perfect leader, and my best friend. Thank you, Vedam.'

Dren blushed. Valdemar joined in with the applause. Vanhil rolled his eyes again. The only reason he would ever clap is because the speech was over.

'And I would like to add,' Dren said, standing up. 'Thank you for coming, and for your splendid presents you gave me. I very much wish I could address each and every one of you, but I'm afraid you'd all get very bored. But I would like to give a special mention to my friend Valdemar over there, for I have been looking for a luck charm like this for many decades now.' He pulled out an amulet from under his shirt and showed it to everyone.

'Well, I'm sorry we disrupted your breakfast, but carry on! Dig in!'

Vanhil scoffed down the rest of his scuttle, and absent mindedly chewing on some marshmerrow, he stared out at the scenery around Ebonheart.

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw a dark shape fall and hit the ground with a loud, sickening thump.

There were cries of astonishment, and Vanhil looked around to see an archer soldier lying on the ground, many arrows protruding from his body. Vanhil looked up to see where the archer had supposedly come from, and saw an Argonian on top of one of the castle towers. The Argonian was clothed in black, and was carrying a Daedric bow. The reptilian creature pulled out its last arrow from its quiver, crying down to the crowd below,

'Let it be known that this day, Torla, the supposed _fool_ succeeded in murdering the Duke, Vedam Dren!'

Vanhil stood up quickly, but it was too late, the Argonian called Torla had started to release the arrow, when a cliff racer suddenly came out of nowhere and knocked Torla to the side, making him shoot the arrow off somewhere in the sky.

_Lucky_, Vanhil thought. _Dren's very lucky that the cliff racer was there._

The Argonian stood back up as the cliff racer left, and reached for another arrow, to find he had none.

_Once again, he's lucky. _Vanhil thought. _Valdemar's amulet really does work._

Torla roared in anger, and jumped off the tower, surprisingly soaring through the air, over the moat and quite far into land before finally starting to drop, where he performed a levitation spell, and floated gently off.

The four guards paused for a moment, staring at where Torla once stood. All at once, they shook their heads and rushed through the door to inside. Far away, Torla's figure finally started to disappear into the distance. Vanhil looked towards a bridge heading over the moat, and sure enough he saw the four soldiers chasing after the Argonian assassin.

Vanhil sat back down, a little confused at what had just happened. The whole thing was rather pointless, actually. Nothing had happened, except for the dead archer beside them. Dren looked a bit pale, and sat back down awkwardly. The Breton beside him and another Dunmer picked up the archer and carried him off, his blood pouring all over their expensive clothes.

'An assassination attempt on his own birthday…' Valdemar said to a Bosmer beside him. 'Bet he wasn't expecting that. Lucky I gave him the amulet.'

The Bosmer gave Valdemar an I-couldn't-care-less look, and carried on with her meal.

Vanhil had a sudden admiration to the Wood Elf.

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I sat on the bench, staring at my empty bowl. Why did they starve the prisoners here? I wasn't even in the same cell as Vinziah. He was across the hall from me, to my annoyance. We were the only prisoners there in Pelagiad prison, apart from some Argonian lady who hadn't said a thing since we got there.

I remembered back to where we had messed up, where the guard had caught us.

'_You are under arrest, for the mass murder in Ebonheart.' The guard had said. 'You will be escorted to prison, where you will undertake your punishment.'_

_I had said nothing, just held onto Vinziah's wrist as hard as possible._

_As we were dragged off, I could see Seth behind us, a hungry look on his face._

_I couldn't help it, I grinned._

_Vinziah had later that day woken up in prison, as freaked out as if he had woken up in the fiery depths of Oblivion itself. I explained everything to him, and then we settled down to sleep._

'So, what're you two in for?' a female voice said, waking me from my daze. I looked up, and walked towards the door window, staring through the bars outside. No one was there. Vinziah was looking just as confused as I was.

'Who's there?' I asked out to the open.

The Argonian woman in the cell stepped towards her door, looking back to us.

'Who do you think?' she answered.

'You?' I asked, perplexed. The Argonian's voice was unlike her usual race's accent. It was almost Imperial, she didn't hiss like the others, she didn't act like the others.

'I'm the only girl here, aren't I?' the Argonian retorted. 'So, what're you in for?'

'Oh, um…' said Vinziah, speaking up.

'Well, I sort of got him in jail.' I said, pointing to Vinziah. 'I had supposedly broke the law, by defending myself from guards, and he stood up for me.'

'Oh…' The girl said, looking down.

'What about you?' asked Vinziah.

'Well,' the Argonian started, hesitating before talking again. 'I sort of - well, I had raided this rogue's house, and I had found some skooma.'

At the sound of the word, my heart started racing, and I picked up my waste bucket, suddenly vomiting into it. I hadn't had any skooma for days now, and I was craving for it. I had practically lived on skooma for quite a while, and I wasn't quite prepared to give it up. I wiped my mouth, then stood back up, staring at the Argonian again.

'So, carry on.' I said, as if nothing had just happened.

She gave me a quizzical look, then continued with what she was saying.

'Well, yeah, I found the skooma, and I took it. Not for my own benefit, but for my friends. She's a Khajiit, and she loves her daily dose of skooma. But a guard witnessed me giving it to her and…' she sniffed, her eyes watering. 'I gave in straight away, but my friend fought, and they killed her.'

She fell silent.

'My name's Vinziah, that's Jolin over there.' Vinziah broke the awkward silence. 'What's yours?'

'My name's Erin, I was born in Cyrodiil, grew up with an Imperial family, that's why I don't have an accent like my other Argonian brethren.'

I nodded to show I understood.

'What's it like in Cyrodiil?' Vinziah said, taking an interest in Erin. 'I've always wanted to go there.'

'I can barely remember, I was quite young when I left. But I do know - I do remember thinking it was beautiful.'

She looked as if she was going to say more, but stopped, as the end door was opened and the sound of heavy boots came through.

My heart stopped as I saw who came in. Seth was following an Imperial guard inside, obviously arguing with him. Behind them tailed along another guard holding onto an Argonian in braces.

'I'm telling you, I was sent to collect, or kill them!' Seth roared at the first guard.

'Do you have a writ?'

'No, I must have dropped it, but-'

'Then we cannot trust you.' The guards said, holding up a hand to stop Seth saying anymore. The Dunmer knocked the hand aside.

'No! I am here to collect them, and take them back to Ebonheart prison, on General Vanhil's orders!' he cried out.

'If the General sends a letter, approving the collection, we might reconsider, but for now, you are not to even touch these prisoners!'

While the two were arguing, the second guard was sending the Argonian prisoner into the empty cell beside me.

'Get out of my face, Dark Elf.' The first guard said. I thought of shouting a warning to the guard, because I saw an evil look flow over Seth's face, but it was gone as quickly as it came. Seth stormed out of the prison, cursing repeatedly at the guard. The soldier ignored him, and pointed to the second guard, saying,

'Send for the torturer, it's time to get these law-breakers in line.'

My mouth fell open in shock. The torturer? We were going to be tortured?

'What? What're you talking about?' Vinziah asked, his eyes wide in fear as I started to try and rip off my jail braces.

'Why? What information do you need from us? What's the point in the torture?' Vinziah said hastily, stepping back from the door.

'To answer your question, Altmer,' the guard said lazily. 'We're torturing you, because you need to learn to believe in the law. You have no information whatsoever from you. And torture, is the best way to show that we're serious when we talk about the law.'

'I am not afraid of torture.' The new Argonian prisoner said. 'I have suffered much more than torture before.'

'Good,' the guard stated. 'Then you can go first.'

'And who're you?' Erin asked the new prisoner.

'I am Torla.' The Argonian said proudly. 'I was chased here by Imperial guards from Ebonheart, after making an assassination attempt on the Duke.'

'And you're proud of your deed?' the guard questioned.

'I believe I did the right thing.'

'Then you're very wrong.' The guard retorted. 'You'll get extra long punishment for your beliefs. You are clearly mad, and what I've heard is that you're called by most people, Torla the _fool_.'

Torla hissed angrily.

'It is they who are fools.' He said. 'If it wasn't for that damn cliff racer I would have succeeded in my mission.'

There was a loud clunking noise and a figure stepped through the prison door, carrying various sharp tools that poked out at odd angles. I could see a whip at his belt, and thumbscrews hanging on a string strapped to his belt. I knew that this was the torturer. He was wearing a full set of very well polished ebony armour, and he had the build and height of a Dunmer.

'Ah good,' the guard said to the torturer. 'I'll leave them in your care. But Drogan,' he said, using the torturers name. 'Remember our little agreement.'

The torturer nodded.

'Use this one first, and make it extra long.' The guard told the torturer, pointing to Torla.

The torturer nodded again, and the guard left.

'Do you like my new armour?' the torturer asked Erin. Erin stared at the torturer for a moment, probably trying to work out what he meant, then her eyes widened in shock.

'You evil little!' she cried out, punching her door repeatedly, making it rock dangerously on its hinges. 'That's mine! How dare you touch-'

'Now, now.' The torturer interrupted. 'Don't get to upset. If you obey the rules, you may be freed, and you could buy this off me for a fair price.'

'I'd rather see you dead.'

The torturer ignored her, and opened Torla's cell door grabbing the Argonian's wrist and pulling him away, down the hall and into a trapdoor.

I stared in horror, wondering if Torla was going to come back alive.

-----------------------------

There you go, a bit of a longer chapter. Hope it wasn't too confusing.

Thank you to all those who review this story. You really are so awesome! Keep it up!


	11. Pain and sorrow

Torla's cries of pain echoed through the dungeon, the sound of his flesh being torn crushed our hearts. I was terrified. My stomach curdled as I heard his blood spatter over the walls below.

And then it was over. The trapdoor opened, and the weak Argonian was thrown up and out. With him kneeling over in pain, I saw the long, deep gashes down his back.

'Now what have you learnt today?' the torturer asked Torla as he came up through the trapdoor.

'That the law is evil.' Torla spat, despite all his agony.

'Wrong answer!' the torturer yelled in delight, as if he was hoping Torla would say some thing like that. He picked the Argonian up and stood him against the wall, then hammered him three times with his armoured fists.

My eyes watered as I saw the helpless soul smash into the wall repeatedly. The torturer then seemed satisfied, and shoved the Argonian back into its cell.

'Two a day, I think.' The torturer said. 'My victims die too early if I attack them every day. You get one day of rest.'

'Yippee…' Torla remarked.

'You, on the other hand, are stubborn.' The torturer said, turning to Torla. 'You can be hurt tomorrow as well. And the next day, for a matter of fact, because that is your original day. Then you can get back to the usual routine, if you behave.'

The Argonian hissed.

The torturer turned around in a circle, inspecting each of us, as if deciding which person would be next.

'What are your crimes?' he asked to us. 'And no lies, I can tell if you are or not.'

He pointed to Erin.

'I was caught giving my friend some skooma I had found from an outlaw's house.' She said, her head bowed as if in shame. 'The guards thought I was smuggling it.'

The torturer sniffed, and then turned to Vinziah.

'What about you?'

'I was captured by outlaws, and the guards thought I had taken part in their crimes.' Vinziah said, holding his head high.

The torturer stalled for a moment, wondering if Vinziah was telling the truth or not. Vinziah stared back at the torturer, his eyes flaming. The torturer nodded slowly.

'Alright.' He turned to me. 'And you?'

'I stood up against a rogue guard who had tried to kill me for no reason.' I said flatly.

'Nonsense. A guard would never do that.'

'Guards are people too.' I retorted. 'They also have feelings; I had annoyed him in the past. He was always tender around me. I did the right thing. Those guards who stood against me deserved to die.'

'Also stubborn.' The torturer told me. 'You're next.'

He placed a key in the lock, and threw open the door. Grabbing my shoulder, he started to pull me out of the cell, but before I had even gone through the door, I attempted to rip of his helmet and hit him in the face. As I gripped onto the helm, the torturer raised his hand, and everything went black.

-------------------------------

My mind awoke, but my eyes wouldn't open. As the numbness of my sleep wore off, I started to get my normal bodily feelings back, when it hit me.

An insane dizziness, washed through my head, driven by a blast of searing hot pain slashing through my back. I was surely going to die. Nothing would be able to stop me from dying. I couldn't think. Nothing was making sense. I was in such agony - my head was throbbing so much that I couldn't even yell. My heart beating in my throat, though it was hardly beating at all.

Then my eyes opened wide, and my breath left my body, disguised as a piercing scream. I fell to the cold floor, shaking uncontrollably.

'Did you enjoy that?' a voice said behind me. 'It's quite extraordinary, actually. I put you into a sleep, where you can feel no pain. And then I torture you. When you wake up, all the pain rushes to you at once.'

I looked around to see the speaker. It was the torturer.

'Although…' The torturer continued. 'I don't think that you have endured enough pain yet. He rushed up behind me and grabbed my back in a fierce pinch, then twisted. I gasped in pain, a voice hardly able to leave my mouth. And then I was being forced up a ladder, through a trapdoor, and back into my cell, where I fell to the ground, not even bothering to cover myself in my sack-blanket.

Hardly registering any of it, I heard the torturer leaving the prison, chuckling to himself.

'Jolin?' Vinziah whispered. 'Can you hear me?'

But I said nothing; just lay there in my agony, wondering if I would ever make it to finally kill Vanhil.

**Yeah, I know that was a really short chapter, but who cares? I gave you a long one last time!**


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